Capitalism Is The Crisis: Radical Politics in the Age of Austerity examines the ideological roots of the “austerity” agenda and proposes revolutionary paths out of the current crisis. The film features original interviews with Chris Hedges, Derrick Jensen, Michael Hardt, Peter Gelderloos, Leo Panitch, David McNally, Richard J.F. Day, Imre Szeman, Wayne Price, and many more!

The 2008 “financial crisis” in the United States was a systemic fraud in which the wealthy finance capitalists stole trillions of public dollars. No one was jailed for this crime, the largest theft of public money in history.

Instead, the rich forced working people across the globe to pay for their “crisis” through punitive “austerity” programs that gutted public services and repealed workers’ rights.

Austerity was named “Word of the Year” for 2010.

This documentary explains the nature of capitalist crisis, visits the protests against austerity measures, and recommends revolutionary paths for the future.

Special attention is devoted to the crisis in Greece, the 2010 G20 Summit protest in Toronto, Canada, and the remarkable surge of solidarity in Madison, Wisconsin.

On April 16, 2000 upward of 20,000 anti-globalization protesters descended on Washington, DC to resist the destructive neoliberal policies of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. On the heels of the stunning victory in Seattle on N30, hopes were high that the A16 demo would shut down the meetings and once again show the world the power of bottom-up, horizontal resistance.

A16 didn’t turn out to be another Seattle, but the worldwide struggle against neoliberalism was largely successful nonetheless. The relentless pressure of mass demonstrations at every summit meeting, coupled with ever more militant resistance from the residents of the affected countries, left the so-called Washington consensus in ruins. IMF capitalization plummeted in the following years as more and more poor nations opted out of the financial straightjacket of exorbitant interest rates and austerity measures demanded of IMF loan recipients.

Today, the tentacles of neoliberalism are encircling previously exempt populations in Europe and the US, as international bankers demand their speculative losses be made good by people already on the verge of destitution. In countries like Greece and Latvia, massive cuts in social services are forcing millions into poverty, in order to repay the IMF the billions that went to bailing out casino capitalists. In other countries, like the US, neoliberals wreak their havoc without middlemen, but the results are the same. Here in Washington, DC, home of the IMF and World Bank, school budgets are being slashed, homeless shelters closed, city employees laid off, and Metro fares raised, all to make up budget shortfalls caused by rescuing multi-billion dollar banks from their own greed and stupidity. DC is also the target of an invasion by Wal-Mart, who plans to open four stores here in 2012. This is the same Wal-Mart that received millions from the World Bank for energy projects in Haiti and Mexico.

The rest of the world is not taking this lying down. In Greece, strikes and protests are near daily occurrences, to the point that the economic disruption may be costing the government more money than they save through austerity measures. Students in England have rioted in response to tuition hikes, destroying the lobby of the Liberal Democrat party headquarters and attacking Prince Charles’ car – with him inside it. A spontaneous, leaderless revolt in Tunisia has driven one president into exile, and the transition government is already falling apart.

Here in the US we live at the heart of the capitalist empire. More than any other people in the world, we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to derail the imperial machine. This year the IMF and World Bank will once again begin their spring meetings on April 16. The IMF Resistance Network invites all enemies of neoliberal capitalism to join us in the streets of DC to fight for a just and free world.

“Historical” mansions of centuries past stand empty, meticulously kept, arrogantly lauded and fiercely guarded, while a housing crisis wracks the urban populace, because we care more about dead aristocrats than about homeless children who still breathe. Foodstamps are little solace when there’s nothing to eat for miles.

Public schools, denied any readily available cure, instead face involuntary euthanasia. Co-ops, those bourgeois utopian clubhouses, are constantly reproducing and reifying their own sterile elitism. This is New York City, a rotting mosaic of doors we can’t open, windows we can’t touch, and would-be getaway cabs we can’t afford. Five sprawling boroughs of dead labor keeping dead space from crumbling.

On the other hand, the chances are pretty good that you’ll slave away at some miserable job the rest of your life. That’s because you were in all likelihood born into the wrong social class. Let’s face it — you’re a member of the working caste. Sorry!

As a result, you don’t have the education, upbringing, connections, manners, appearance, and good taste to ever become one of us. In fact, you’d probably need a book the size of the yellow pages to list all the unfair advantages we have over you. That’s why we’re so relieved to know that you still continue to believe all those silly fairy tales about “justice” and “equal opportunity” in America.

Of course, in a hierarchical social system like ours, there’s never been much room at the top to begin with. Besides, it’s already occupied by us — and we like it up here so much that we intend to keep it that way. But at least there’s usually someone lower in the social hierarchy you can feel superior to and kick in the teeth once in a while. Even a lowly dishwasher can easily find some poor slob further down in the pecking order to sneer and spit at. So be thankful for migrant workers, prostitutes, and homeless street people.

“I want to live among people who are conscious that we live in a war. A war against life, against the spirit. I want to live among people who don’t look down at their feet, or won’t look you in the eyes when you speak of struggle or insurrection, because In their heart they know they have surrendered, and because—maybe, just maybe—they never really hated the system. Among people who have not been bought, who did not take the pills they were offered, because they preferred to struggle with their feeling of pathologized anxiety than to live in the dead zone. People who don’t pretend to be struggling when it is obvious that what they are doing is turning a battlefield into a garden. I want to be in a place where the war is admissible.”

—anonymous Spanish poet

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Guerrilla News does not necessarily condone or agree with everything posted on this site. We do not endorse or engage in any of the dumb and dangerous activities documented herein. As middle-class beneficiaries of capitalist iniquity, we have no incentive to contest the structures that guarantee our special privileges, nor do we ever do so—just ask our colleagues. We're so busy cashing in on others' insurgency that we wouldn't have time to participate even if we wanted to—honest, officer!

from contrainfo, transl. waronsociety: The reasons to act, motivations, and urgencies remain. Also in many the excuses to not do it remain. We will always consciously choose the first option. Saturday, July 4, minutes before the “copa américa” began, which … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, transl waronsociety: Chikomoztoc, July 3, 2015. “But how can we pretend that one dies in time who has never lived in time? It would be better if they had not been born. This is what Nature desires for … Continue reading →

from refractario, transl. waronsociety: Claudio Lavazza’s contribution to the “Days of Resistance and Solidarity” held March 26-28 in Athens organized by the Assembly of Solidarity with Political Prisoners and Imprisoned and Accused Fighters. The compañero remains imprisoned in the dungeons … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, transl waronsociety: Chikomoztok, July 8, 2015 The company ICA (Civil and Associated Engineers) is the giant of infrastructure in Mexico. The construction of freeways, urban complexes, hydroelectric plants, airports, refineries, metro stations and more, are the areas that … Continue reading →

translation we receive and publish (original is at contrainfo [pdf]): Pachuca, Hidalgo, November 13 2014. With this statement, some groupuscules of “Wild Reaction” (RS), will respond to the text “Some ideas about the present and the future” from “Ediciones Isumatag” … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, transl waronsociety: 1st Message: Declaration of Permanent War Everyone get out! “Bakunin said that revolutions are three quarters fantasy and a quarter reality. The important thing is realizing where the fantasy that leads to the explosion of generalized … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, translated by waronsociety: Don’t vote them in, kick them out! “As writers of an essay of political philosophy, the Invisible Committee affects a strong contempt for speculation and a marked penchant for practice. And this is good, above … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, translated by waronsociety: Several months ago, the communication media falsely attributed to us a series of attacks on various targets in different parts of the Mexican republic, for which reason we want to present the following: 1. The … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, transl waronsociety: At almost two months into the liquid hunger strike of compañerxs Juan Flores, Nataly Casanova, and Guillermo Durán, today [June 5th] one of the most important demands was achieved: compañero Enrique Gúzman was moved from prison … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, translated by waronsociety: In the morning of April 14 of this year, we left a book-bomb in the facilities of the University of Mexico Valley (UVM), on its Coacalco campus in Mexico State. The explosive was addressed to … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, translated by waronsociety: The morning of May 14 of this year, we prepared a fire extinguisher full of dynamite, black powder and phosphorous powder with a homemade slow-fuse detonator. We abandonded it on the outskirts of the Cuautitlán campus … Continue reading →

reposted from insurrectionnews: “It is time to act in everyday life for the destruction of the prison society and against any social attempt to reform this disgusting system of death. Solidarity should never be an empty slogan, but a daily … Continue reading →

from refractario, transl. waronsociety: During the early hours of April 28, 2015 encapuchadxs threw 4 molotov cocktails at the Intendant* of Tarapaca’s office in Iquique. According to police, a taxi driver saw everything that happened and decided to follow the … Continue reading →

we receive and publish, translation waronsociety: Police forces carried out a series of checkpoints in the Parinacota población on April 16 2015. Two women were detained with molotovs and flammable liquid and taken to the police station. A short while … Continue reading →

we receive via email; translation by waronsociety: We do not respect or serve any laws other than the natural laws, we despise the whole cumulous of words compiled in thick books, which under punishment dictate the behavior of individuals. We … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, translated by waronsociety: The Tunel Emisor Oriente (TEO) is one of the largest registered engineering projects having to do with deep drainage systems. Built to avoid flooding in the cities, it begins in the state of Hidalgo and … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, transl. waronsociety: On Monday April 27, at 8 in the morning, encapuchadxs erected barricades and attacked the police outside of Liceo de Aplicación (a public high school) in solidarity with all anarchist prisoners held hostage in the prisons … Continue reading →

from contrainfo, transl. waronsociety: Because we act in consequence with the contempt we feel towards civilization and all of its machinery. In the early hours of April 7, we activated an incendiary device which resulted in the complete torching of … Continue reading →

reposted from insurrectionnews: An anarchist direct action cell have claimed responsibility for simultaneous bomb threats against Argentina Airlines flight 1360 to Bogota and the Colombian embassy as well as the sabotage of a Santander Bank ATM in downtown Buenos Aires. … Continue reading →

But it’s not anymore. Three years to the day of the first post to This Is Our Job, I’ve decided to end this particular anarchist project in order to devote myself to other anarchist projects. Primarily, I want more time … Continue reading →

As we’ve already stated, the police will be attacked, whether with bullets, fire, or explosives. We call the things we do by their names, and we want our comrades to do the same. We’re not going to say we’re carrying … Continue reading →

On Tuesday, October 2, the sentences were announced in the second trial of the Fire Cells Conspiracy Revolutionary Organization. The trial began in December 2011 and dealt with three bombings carried out by the Fire Cells Conspiracy in 2009: at … Continue reading →

Operation Ardire prisoner Giulia Marziale has just released two fascinating communiqués about the ludicrousness of the charges against her and about the hypocrisy of people who sympathize with political dissidents elsewhere while condemning those in their own backyard.

From Liberación Total (September 14, 2012): CLAIM FOR REVOLUTIONARY CRIMINAL ATTACK ON LA FLORIDA PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE We attacked the Southern Prosecutor’s Office because it symbolizes law enforcement. From there, people are sent to prison. People are sentenced for crimes and … Continue reading →

Wednesday, September 5 The four Fire Cells Conspiracy members refused to attend this trial session, thereby showing their opposition to the vindictive transfers imposed on them during the summer, as they were brought back to Korydallos Prison in Athens just … Continue reading →

In this most recent letter from Stefano Gabriele Fosco, who ran the Culmine blog before he was arrested in the context of Operation Ardire, he fires back at those who have been criticizing anarchist prisoners for using elements of the … Continue reading →

Paolo, Erika, Toshi, Marco and Luigi have been under arrest since 20th May for having tried to liberate ‘undocumented’ migrants during one of the many police raids in the streets of Aurora. The judges in charge of the case don’t … Continue reading →

We receive and transmit: Police bungles While Villa Assillo squat was being evicted on 14th July [in Trento], the court of review decided on the case of three comrades subjected to regularly reporting to the police station following precisely the … Continue reading →

To overcome fear. TAKE OUR LIVES IN OUR HANDS In recent years, we have seen each day increasingly dominated by extreme poverty and exploitation. Through our inability to meet our needs, it becomes an obvious conclusion: that our life is … Continue reading →

Claim for damage to Senate interior office in Bremen More than 20,000 people dead, drowned in the Mediterranean during their flight, several kilometres of high-security fences, overcrowded lagers (detention camps for migrants under expulsion), targeted militarized rejection of refugees. We … Continue reading →

In November 2014 a group of hooded people chained the doors of the Homicide Police Department premises before tossing incendiary bombs at the police den and burning out a cop’s car. The hooded ones managed to go off undisturbed … Continue reading →

29th July 2015 – [In April 2015] the Prosecutor in Turin started an investigation for attack with terrorist purposes and acquisition and transport of explosive material against Silvia Guerini, Costantino Ragusa and Billy Bernasconi. The investigation was carried out by … Continue reading →

Four Deaths Since The Start of June Four people have died trying to cross the border into the UK in the last month. All of them appear to be a direct result of attempts to cross. The most recent happened yesterday, … Continue reading →

Reports are circulating of an attempted immigration raid being sabotaged by Shadwell locals on Wednesday (22 July). 16 tyres were let down and officers were egged in an action reminiscent of the resistance in Walworth last month. To make matters … Continue reading →

Vandalism: thousands of nails scattered on the road of the Tour 16/07/2015 Yesterday early in the afternoon a large quantity of upholstery nails were methodically spread over the road of the Tour, in the ascent of the Port de Lers … Continue reading →

Hello everybody, Since we are still under the pressure of repression, there are quite big expenses in the “Fenix“ case and we are somehow unable to pay all these things (lawyers, support of the family of one imprisoned guy, food for prisoners, packages for the prisoners, etc.) We would like to ask for any financial [...]

20 July 2015 – A female suicide bomber with allegiances to Daesh/Islamic State is believed to be responsible for causing a blast in Suruç district of Urfa, which targeted around 300 members of Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF) before their journey into Kobanê for reconstruction activities. Over 50 young people were killed and over a [...]

From Cheerleader to Enemy of the State Chapter 7 of the book RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War By William T. Hathaway The long, flouncy curls from Judy Davis’s cheerleader days are gone. Her straight blonde hair is now cut short. Large blue eyes stand out in a face pale without makeup. Her soft Southern drawl [...]

We do NOT see anything on any Western Anarchists site, Facebook, etc, regarding all crimes happening in Iran by the brutal Islamic regime or in Afghanistan by its puppet regime or many other Middle Eastern countries. But when a woman in burqa will be attacked we see straightaway there is rallies, actions etc, in their [...]

PDF: Hungerstrike flyer for Steve TO THE PRESS AND PUBLIC In the prison for foreigners in Maltepe, the law has been abrogated. British citizen, Stephan Shah Kaczynski is kept in Maltepe L Type Prison No.3, which is well-known as a prison for foreigners for already 4 months now. To demand the end to the unlawful [...]

On July 14th 2015, it became known that the latest motion for release filed by Evi Statiri (the life partner of CCF imprisoned member Gerasimos Tsakalos) was rejected by the competent judicial council. Despite the fact that Evi has never been a member of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, nor had she any involvement [...]

A Militant Prophet I’ll carry the cross for those who never made it. Through fields of carnage of your own making. For the lost, the homeless, the hungry, black boys slaughtered like pigs by pigs your warriors coming home with missing limbs “your worthless” underclass, the classless, your welfare queens these names, the nameless, anonymous, [...]

Exit Free Chapter 6 of the book RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War By William T. Hathaway The following report was contributed by one of the founders of Exit Free, a collective in the USA that helps women leave the military by discharge or desertion. I’ve become a criminal for peace. How I got there is [...]

Insurrection News received and transmits: In London on Saturday 11th July the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) hosted a public meeting attended by around 1000 people with a member of Syriza’s Central Committee. Driven by a rejection of the SWP’s Patriarchal rape apologist authoritarian politics and to make clear to Syriza that the imprisonment of fellow [...] […]

What is so special about this site? I have a text I’d like to see in the library. May I submit it? I uploaded something, but you censored me! What about my zine? What about my scans? Hey, you started without me. Can I join you? What about support for other languages? Tell us about your technology. Why don […]

October 4, 2014: a shiny new library April 2014 December 2013 update (2) The bright side The dark side December 2013 update October 4, 2014: a shiny new library The library has been upgraded, with a couple of notable improvements: new mobile-friendly layout enhanced bookbuilder improved PDF style The old files have been archived i […]

The torrent PDF 56k users/crappy connections/various situations Search plugin for Calibre Code The torrent A torrent release is available here (October 4 2014). It ships the CD/DVD images with the full archive of this site and of its sister sites: Macedonian Finnish Russian Spanish Serbo-Croatian PDF of various size, plain and i […]

Over the past months the library project has seen, along with a constant flow of new additions, the birth of two new libraries: the swedish library and the german library. You can see the full list of libraries in the navigation bar under “Other languages”. Also, the wiki (also known as the bookshelf) has been cleaned up and revamped. You can find it at http […]

We’ve closed down the Jabber server and have moved back to Internet Relay Chat (IRC). The chat is now hosted on the servers run by Freenode. You can access it by using your preferred IRC client and pointing it to: server: chat.freenode.net channel: #anarchistlibrary Please see http://freenode.net/irc_servers.shtml for some helpful information about accessing […]

Introduction Installation Essentials Full-featured installation (EPUB) Full-featured installation (PDF) Introduction The texts stored on the libraries are formatted with a dialect of the Emacs Muse markup, which is described in deep details in the manual. The files are pure plain text (with the popular and ubiquitous UTF-8 […]

Author: Crimethinc., AnonymousTitle: Ain't No PC Gonna Fix it BabySubtitle: A Critique of Ally PoliticsDate: April 5th, 2014Source: Retrieved on July 26th, 2015 from https://fireworksbayarea.com/featured/revolutionary-solidarity-a-critical-reader-for-accomplices/

Author: Camillo Berneri, Frank MintzTitle: Class War in SpainSubtitle: The Writings of Camillo Berneri 1936-1937Date: 1978Notes: Reprint of English translations published in "The Writings of Camillo Berneri" compiled by Frank Mintz, in The Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review, Number 4, 1978. Translations from French as published in Camillo Berneri: G […]

Author: Paul GoodmanTitle: The Black Flag of AnarchismDate: July 14, 1968Notes: reposted from: http://www.ditext.com/goodman/flag.htmlSource: The New York Times Magazine, July 14, 1968. Reprinted in Anarchism, ed. Robert Hoffman, 1970.

Author: AnonymousTitle: Not Just Free Speech, but Freedom ItselfSubtitle: A Critique of Civil LibertiesDate: 2010Notes: Published originally in the ninth issue ofRolling Thunder magazine; republished in the zine ​The Divorce of Thought from Deed: Social Conflict, White Supremacy, and Free Speech at UNC-Chapel Hill by the North Carolina Piece Corps.Source: Re […]

Author: AnonymousTitle: Another Critique of InsurrectionalismDate: January - February 2014Notes: Spanish original: http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/32041Source: Retrieved on July 1st, 2015 from http://anarchistnews.org/content/another-critique-insurrectionalism

while neither of these is specifically anarchist in perspective, they both provide some historical context that diverges dramatically from the history i learned as a kid, and demonstrate the hypocrisy and authoritarian nature of the u.s. government. lies my teacher told me (james loewen) a people's history of the united states (howard zinn)

I kind of disagree with your association of reformism with leftism. I see reformism as a politically liberal view of the world, while I see leftism as making a challenge for the established order. Now, obviously this can end up being a total nightmare, but that's a topic for another day.

In one of Rilke's biographies, it's said that the reason he [rilke] was so attractive to women was not due to any effect that his person or manners had on them, but because he was so evidently in love with them. The women he formed relationships with were always taken w/ the fact that *they* had affected *him* so strongly. (i.e., it seems to me tha […]

letters journal hasn't put out a new issue in a long time, but i don't think it's officially ended. probably mailing the editor of the journal (i believe contact info is in the journal) is a better way to find out about any upcoming efforts. and when i search i find issues 3 and 4 still available on little black cart (i searched for letters, t […]

there is clearly some sort of a "genetic" (historical) connection between socialism and anarchism, and it seems that at least some socialist anarchists believe that theirs is the only legitimate form of anarchism.i strongly disagree. individualist anarchists are at least one strain of the big @ that stand apart from (and somewhat contrary to) the s […]

The term has been used for various things, but after 1995 (when AK Press published "Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism"), the term became a catch-all dismissal for any kind of anarchism that avoided and/or rejected the kind of muscular, serious, revolutionary, scientific or otherwise successful (?) anarchist projects that were being touted as […]

Well I would say its because there is a deep distrust of the fairly large population of Lumpenproletariat who whilst not particularly radicalized are deeply alienated from the rest of society and in particular any means of producing their own well being. This distrust is present in the general working class population who have been thoroughly convinced that […]

I've primarily encountered it being used as jargon. Personally I'm not against jargon necessarily, but that concept is one of my least favorite aspects of Marx: his critique of exploitation. In that context exploitation is basically a description of how not all of the monetary benefits of a worker's labor-power are ever returned to her via wag […]

I'm trying to remember a term I once saw mentioned, years ago, that appeals to me a lot. Maybe you can help. Here is what I remember about it: -I feel like that I read it in some sort of insurrectionary @ essay, but that they were borrowing it from a more Marxist context. -I think it was a relatively old term - my sense is that it must have been used mo […]

My answer is going to be brief, and we can flesh it out in comments if necessary. I am both someone who identifies with post-left strains of anarchy and who feels (sometimes shifting) affinities with the insurrecto- and nihilist tendencies of recent years.I think for me where I come to be critical of I@ is where it becomes almost like an activist project. Wh […]

jiddu krishnamurti said a few things that i find fairly useful, and his rejection of his privileged "destiny" didn't hurt him in my book. my favorite is his classic (i will probably mangle the actual words, but...): "it is no measure of good health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." the first time i read those words i […]

I've largely said it in the main question, but I'm wondering if the sort of pacifist, green and individualist strain of Anarchism advocated by Thoreau can exist alongside Anarchist communism, both in the present and in a potential 'post rev' society?

I've been recently reading in defence of anarchism and, although you can tell his libertarian, free-market views here and then I found it quite engaging. What do people think of his writings and of philosophical anarchism more in general, compared to other kids of anarchism (more practical, down to earth maybe)? Do you think autonomy and authority are g […]

This whole "free speech" issue is so clouded by liberal assumptions...Without political power, curtailing public expression is ineffective. Here in the freest country in the world, the Constitution proclaims that Congress will not interfere with the exercise of free speech (among other things), and because of our public indoctrination (oops -- of c […]

I feel creating dichotomies like these can create more problems rather than lead us to any further knowledge. However, it is true that some strands of capitalism (the much loaded term neoliberalism) advocate the radical individualism that can be seen in some of the books of Ayn Rand, for example. And that extreme individualism, when put together with a fake […]

Has there ever been an anarchist society that worked?Yes, many thousands of them. For their first million years or more, all humans lived as hunter-gatherers in small bands of equals, without hierarchy or authority. These are our ancestors. Anarchist societies must have been successful, otherwise none of us would be here. The state is only a few thousand yea […]

I'm glad I found this question. This is only a partial expression (my $.01?) of what I perceive. There's a quote of Einstein's which despite its perceived tiredness I think is apt in reading emile's posts on @news: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I feel emile is pointing th […]

I upvoted both flip and dot's answers, because they make points I would've made as well. I also think that manarchist has been used since Occupy in a way quite different than what was intended by the Rock Bloc Collective (who originally coined brought the phrase to prominence the phrase in their essay Stick it to the Manarchy)*. In recent years, I […]